Mansfield Crescent

Okay flat in an awful setting Positive: The flat was very clean. The wifi signal was reliable, and the TV had all the usual channels, including Netflix, Amazon Prime, etc. The bedding and towels were of good quality and in plentiful supply. The sofa was comfy. The water pressure and heat in the shower were great. It was also very quiet 98% of the time we were there for our 4-night stay. Negative: The building itself dates back a couple of hundred years, as does the paint job in the corridor where you enter. Peeling paint, poor lighting -- I half-expected a hungry waif from a Charles Dickens novel to appear from the shadows. There are weeds and rubbish just outside the building, and the inside entryway hadn't been swept in a very long time. This is a building that screams "No one cares!" The view out the bedroom window, at the back of the flat, is of several ramshackle sheds and the rubbish bins. (The theme song from Deliverance comes to mind.) I didn't expect a sculptured garden, but nor did I think I'd need to keep the blinds drawn just to avoid falling into despair at the spectacle outside. Now on to the less obvious shortcomings: We searched high and low, but there was not a single knife in the kitchen that could cut anything harder than a stick of butter. There was no coffee or tea, nor any salt or pepper. This is non-standard for self-catering accommodations, and the lack of tea in particular suggests that the landlords do not understand the essential nature of this beverage to the British travelling public. The table was made of glass, yet there were no placemats or coasters to set anything on. The wooden furniture appeared to have been either IKEA rejects or the early efforts of carpentry students whose budgets permitted the use of only particle board, toothpicks and superglue.

Positive: Lovely new flat with all you need.

Perfect for our needs Positive: Comfortable apartment perfect for our needs